Page:Elizabethan People.djvu/526

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396
THE ELIZABETHAN PEOPLE

blue coat, The feeling that dignity depended largely upon the size of the train of servants pervaded all ranks of society. The domestics, at least while they were within doors, were kept under the strictest discipline. John Harrington, in 1566, drew up a set of rules by which the servants of his house were to be governed. Such documents were common: the following selection illustrates the character of the supervision:


1. A servant shall not be absent from morning or evening prayer without excuse, upon the fine of 2d each time.

3. No man shall leave any door open that he findeth shut, without cause—fine 1d.

5. No bed shall be left unmade, nor fire or candle box unclean, after 8 a. m.

8. No man shall wait at table without a trencher in his hand except for good cause—fine 1d.

14. No one shall provoke another to strike, or strike another on pain of dismissal.

15. No man shall come to the kitchen without reasonable cause-he shall be fined 1d and the cook 1d.

20. The court gate must be shut during each meal.

The fines are to be bestowed upon the poor.